Z is for the Writing Zone by Tui Snider #AtoZChallenge

What is April A to Z?

Every April, bloggers from all over the world participate in the April A to Z blog challenge, and you can too. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a great way to meet other bloggers.

To play along, all you do is make a blog post for each letter of the alphabet during April, then visit as many other bloggers as you can. For the 4th year in a row, the StoryDam’s theme is writing and inspiration from our Story Dam community. We hope you enjoy them!

Graphic by Edie Melson of the Write Conversation

Z is for the Writing Zone

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call THE WRITING ZONE.” – Edie Melson

Just like athletes and musicians, as writers, we do our best work when we are in the zone. But just what is this mysterious state of mind? It’s hard to say exactly, because the writing zone is a little bit different for each of us. It’s something you must discover for yourself and the key to this discovery is through mindfulness.

What do I mean by that? Simply that the next time you have a great day of writing, take a few minutes to think back on everything that surrounded that moment. Were you writing in bed late at night after everyone had fallen asleep? Were you in a crowded coffeehouse with lots of background noise? Were you playing a certain type of music?

As I said before, every writer has a different set of triggers that get them into the zone. Just because Leon writes best after 20 minutes of yoga doesn’t mean that will work for you, and just because Karla writes best on an empty stomach at 5 a.m. doesn’t mean that will work for you.

You just have to point your writerly skills of observation at yourself for a while. Over time, a pattern will emerge. You will begin to recognize the situations that stimulate you to do your best writing.

So, how about you? What gets you in the writing zone? Was it easy for you to figure this out, or did it take some trial and error?

Tui Snider is an author, speaker, and photographer who specializes in quirky, haunted, and downright bizarre destinations. As she puts it, “I used to write fiction – but then, I moved to Texas!” Snider's writing and photography have been featured in a variety of publications, including Coast to Coast AM, FOX Travel News, LifeHack, Langdon Review, the City of Plano, Wild Woman Waking, Shades of Angels and more. Snider’s award-winning books include Paranormal Texas, The Lynching of the Santa Claus Bank Robber, and Unexpected Texas. Snider has several more books in progress, including a Field Guide to Cemetery Symbols and a book about the Great Texas Airship Mystery of 1897. Tui has worn a lot of hats in her life – literally – and is especially fond of berets. She enjoys connecting with writers and readers all over the globe through social media, her newsletter and her website: TuiSnider.com.

I’m definitely a writer who needs silence to get into the zone (no music)… and that means I’m a 5am writer because that’s when the house is quiet, but an empty stomach is too distracting! It also usually helps to read over the last couple of pages, too. Can’t write in the evening because my brain slows down then.

Yes, it’s great to get “in the zone” and get things really accomplished in a big way. I also like The Twilight Zone–been watching the old shows on ME TV of late and have been surprised how many episodes I don’t remember ever having seen.